Conductor clamping means



Sept. 27; 1938.

w. G. FOTSCH CONDUCTOR CLAMPING MEANS Filed July 15, 1935 q iz JiZZz cZmPatented Sept. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES V 2.131.171 CONDUCTOR CLAMPINGMEANS William G.

liable Electric 00., of Illinois Application July 15,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to clamping meansfor' receive a conductor orcable 'therebetween. Heretofore in the use of these clamps, the linemanhas always encountered difficulty in holding the cable and applying thetwoclamping members. One of the members has means to secure it to asupport and owing to the .difiiculty of holding the cable, it has beenthe practice of the lineman to estimate the necessary cable length andcut it ofi before he attaches it to the clamp. With the present devicethe lineman can temporarily attach and draw up the cable withoutdifliculty so that it is possible to handle the cable from the reeluntil he fastens it in the clamp. He can then cut the cable to accuratelength which means a saving of cable.

It is the purpose of the invention to provide a device of this characterin which a lineman can 25 temporarily connect the clamp to the conductorin such a fashion as to maintain the parts of the clamp assembled withthe conductor free to move in the clamp. Thereafter, he can tighten theconductor by feeding it through the clamp with- 30 out danger of causingthe parts of the clamp to separate and with assurance that he willfinally clamp the wire tightly at the point desired.

I will describe the preferred form of the invention by reference to theaccompanying drawing. It is to be understood, however, that thedescription and drawing are illustrative only and are not to be taken aslimiting the invention except in so far as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view of a clamp embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view with parts broken away of the clamp;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view 45 Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a Fig. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the clamp consists of anattaching portion or loop 5 which is adapted to be secured to a pole orwall by any suitable means. The wire loop 5 is secured by soldering orbrazing to a gripping jaw 6 which is tapered, as shown, with its smallend 1 toward the free end portion of the loop 5. The 55 jaw 6 has a pairof loops 8 and 9 struck-up at its on the line 33 of sectional view onthe line 4-4 of Fotsch, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Re- Chicago, 111., acorporation 1936, Serial No. 90,698

(01. 24,-136) opposite ends, and the wire loop 5 isthreaded throughthese loops 8 and 9 and. intimatelycon-ff nected with the jaw 6 by meansof solder as indicated at H]. The'shape in'cross sectionof the jaw B issubstantially a U-shape with the'side 5 flanges H and I2 divergingasthey extend from the base l3. The base I3 is concave slightlyto betterfit a conductor M which is to: be gripped 1 by the clamping device. 1 i

The jaw 6 also has a guiding device ibfixed 10 thereon. This device is aU-shaped strip of metal having horizontally extendingflangesl6 and i1that are spaced from the upper edges of the side flanges i l and I2topermit the insertion of a cooperating clamping member i8 between- 15the flanges 16 .and ii and the adjacent edges of 1 r the flanges H andI2. The Wire 5 passes over the base of the device l5, and this device isheld in place by the solder l0.

The clamping member i8 is U-shaped with.20

diverging 'side walls l9 and 20, and, likethe jaw 6, this member tapersin depth so that, if it is moved to the right from the position shown inFig. 2 along the jaw 6, the result is to bring its roughened orcorrugated base 2| up against the 25 bottom of the conductor Hi toproduce a clamping action. The turned over upper edges 22 and 23 of theside walls 19 and 20 cooperate .with said side walls'to form two grooves22a. and 230,. The

grooves 220 and 2311 act as guides to guide the 3g 7 clamping member I8along the jaw 6.

At its large end, the jaw 6 is provided with apertures 24 and 25 whichapertures are adapted to receive pins 26 and 21 upon an auxiliaryreleasable clamping device 28.- The clamping device 28 has a pair ofjaws 29 and 30, each of which carries a hand piece 3| and 32. The jaws29 and 30 can be spread apart at their upper ends by pressing the handpieces 3| and 32 toward each other because of the fact that the jaws areconnected merely by a spring strip 33. The clamping device 28 isutilized solely for the purpose of temporarily holding the conductor Mto the jaw 6 when a tightening of the conductor is being accomplished.

. As an example of the operation of the device, let us assume that thewire loop 5 is hooked to a post in any suitable fashion, and the looseconductor I4 is placed in the member [8 after which the member [8 isstarted on the jaw 6 far enough to have the flanges l6 and I1 engagethetop portions 22 and 23. The clamping device 28 is then placed inposition around the conductor 14 with the projections 26 and 21 in theapertures 24 .and 25. a

I PATENT 0FFlo's}?f1 The lineman can now grasp the clamp part l8 in hishand, and, with the other hand, he can feed the conductor M to the leftin the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2 step by step until it isas tight as desired. Each time he releases the conductor I4 to obtain anew grip, the clamping device 28 will grab the: conductor by swingingfrom the full line position shown in Fig. 2 to the dotted line position.In this fashion, the conductor is tightened up to the proper tension,and then the member l8 to the right on the jaw 6 until it firmly gripsthe conductor: at which time he can release the clamping device 28 andleave the clamp parts 6 and I8 in position. The clamping device 28 isused with all of the clamping devices 6 and I8 and merely serves as atemporary clamping attachment for the permanent clamp.

It will be noted that, when the clamping jaw member I8 is in theposition shown in Fig. 2 and before it is moved to the right into finalclamping position, the guide member 15 holds the gripping part 2| of themember l8 away from the gripping part l3 of the jaw 6. This permits theconductor I4 to move freely between the gripping parts I 3 and 2| whileit is being tightened.

From the above description, it is believed that the construction andoperation of this device will be readily apparent to those skilled inthis art.

Having thus described one specific form of the invention, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A conductor clamping device of the charlineman can shove the clampingacter described comprising an inner clamping jaw member having sideflanges which increase in width from one end toward the other thereof, amounting member carried by said jaw for mounting the jaw upon a support,an outer U- shaped clamping jaw member having side flanges provided withgrooves adapted to receive the side flanges of the first named jawwhereby to tele scope the two clamping jaw members, said inner jawmember having guide means overlying said 7 grooved side flanges wherebyto hold the two clamping jaw members together in position to receive aconductor freely therebetween.

2. A conductor clamping device of the character described comprising aninner clamping jaw 15 member having side flanges which increase in fromone end toward the other thereof, a

jaw for mount-

